The New Iberia real estate market is booming — and as June comes to a close — those numbers are close to matching that of the total in 2020.
From January to December of last year, a total of 396 homes were sold in the Teche Area. By the end of today, 261 homes are projected to be sold, according to Cindy Herring, a local real estate agent.
Herring has been serving the community since 2008. In the time she has been in business here, she hasn’t seen anything quite like the real estate market as it stands in 2021. Comparing January to May of 2020 to this year, there was a 230 percent increase in homes sold in the $300,000 to over $1 million range.
Because people were in their houses around this time last year during the beginning of COVID-19, Herring said she believes that was a factor in the number of homes sold.
“People were in their houses and they realized the importance of being in the right house,” Herring said. “If you had to camp out, you would want to be in a good camper.”
A combination of the living situations and an interest rate as low as 2 percent were deciding factors for many residents looking to move into something new.
“It generated the perfect storm,” Herring said.
A person who wanted to buy a house for $200,000 last year when the interest rate was 3 percent would be able to buy a bigger house due to a lower interest rate this year, Herring said.
And as the middle of the year comes to close, June is looking just as promising, according to Herring.
“It’s going to be good to great,” she said.
In June alone, Herring notes that there are 84 homes that are pending under contract and that number is expected to grow.
“I see numbers, sales, increasing,” Herring said. “The low interest rates and people are not seeing a lot of houses on the market but when they see one … it’s good to have sales.”
After a year as hectic as 2020 was, people are realizing the importance of not only finding a home but getting comfortable in it while interest is low.
From January to June of this year, Herring said the outlook for the real estate market was much better than it’s ever been.
“We have 47 homes going in July and we haven’t even ended the month, there are probably more to come,” Herring said.
It is normal, according to her, for sales to be elevated in the spring and summer time but these numbers are especially so, something she’s never seen before, much like Bill Bacque, a president and broker at Market Scope Consulting. In his 50 years dealing with real estate numbers, he said he’s never seen numbers like this, according to Herring.
“They’ve never been like this,” Herring said. “Ever, ever.”
